A norovirus outbreak has hit the Winter Olympics being held in PyeongChang, South Korea. Dozens of security guards have been overcome by “a sudden onset of vomiting and diarrhea.”
In response, South Korea pulled 1,200 security guards from duty in case they had been exposed to the virus and replaced them with 900 military personnel. According to CNN, organizers have said that all accommodations and buses were being disinfected.
Norovirus is pretty gross, and we usually hear about it happening on cruise ships, and other crowded and enclosed areas. It’s extremely contagious and is spread via contact with contaminated surfaces or people who already have the virus. According to the CDC:
Norovirus can be found in your stool (feces) even before you start feeling sick. The virus can stay in your stool for 2 weeks or more after you feel better…You can become infected with norovirus by accidentally getting stool or vomit from infected people in your mouth.
Sounds fun, right? As always, frequent and perhaps compulsive hand-washing is recommended, (though obviously not everyone is following this suggestion, because think of all those people going to the bathroom, not washing their hands, and then running their fecal covered hands over public surfaces) along with these other suggestions.
